Catlin's North American Indian Portfolio. Hunting Scenes and Amusements of the Rocky Mountains and Prairies of America. From Drawings and Notes of the Author, Made During Eight Years' Travel Amongst Forty-Eight of the Wildest and Most Remote Tribes of Savages in North America. by George Catlin

George Catlin | Catlin's North American Indian Portfolio. Hunting Scenes and Amusements of the Rocky Mountains and Prairies of America. From Drawings and Notes of the Author, Made During Eight Years' Travel Amongst Forty-Eight of the Wildest and Most Remote Tribes of Savages in North America. | ca. 1844 | Book | Private Collection

About the Object

Catlin published the first two issues of his celebrated North American Indian Portfolio... simultaneously in late November of 1844. The first issue had plates that were hand-colored, while the second issue (as here) had tinted plates. Both editions are now very rare. Catlin originally envisioned publishing a series of linked but separate portfolios, each with its own theme: religious rites, dances, costume, etc. Unfortunately, the first series was the only one ever published; its production proved to be so taxing (both financially and physically), that Catlin sold both the publication and distribution rights the following year to the London publisher Henry G. Bohn.